Silent Insanity

by Rinderin

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Sad
Length: 6083

Grayn Snowhoof is a serial killer, his motives are unknown to even himself. One night he decides to spare one of his victims, leading into a tragic tale between uncovering the reasons behind his butchery and trying to keep his facade from cracking.

Grayn Snowhoof is a very average pony. He is not interesting or unique in any way, shape or form. Or so that's what he would want you to believe, for in reality his average qualities are nothing but a facade, a mask of lies and deceit which hold no other purpose than to hide what he really is.

A monster

A murderer

A serial killer

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-02-28 08:12:44 UTC

The Facade

Chapter 1: The Facade

My name is Grayn Snowhoof. I'm about as average as a pony could get, I don't have any really cool talents or special abilities. For crying out loud, my only spell is basic telekinesis and even that puts a strain on my horn. I am also socially hopeless and terribly awkward around mares, that's mainly because I prefer to be alone, instead of being in the company of other ponies. Yep, that's me, the most bland and uninteresting stallion in Equestria, the most generic pony in all of Ponyville.

At least, that's what I want you to think.

For you see almost everything I've just mentioned was a web of lies, designed to hide what I really am. Well everything asides from the fact that I prefer to be alone and that I'm hopeless with mares and that I practically have no social life, that part was most certainly true. I often think about the monster which lies beneath this wall of deceit, my own personal labyrinth of lies.

My Facade.

Yes, a facade, that is the best word to define the mask which conceals my true nature. For what I truly am would make even Discord shudder. I am in very simple terms a cold blooded murderer, a monster. I am a serial killer. I don't  think that you can conceive how good that felt. I've had this bottled up for the past decade of my dreaded existence. Undoubtedly your first question must be "Why?". Well it's very simple.

I like it.

Unlike most other psychopaths I didn't have a terrible childhood nor did I witness horrific events when I was very young. In reality I have absolutely no reasoning behind what I do, asides from the fact that I just love doing it so much. I'm not forced to kill like it's some kind of addiction, as if I have some kind of need for my killing fix. No, sure killing feels good, sure it brings a smile to my face and everything but I can stop whenever I want to, I'm sure of it. The question at hand however is whether or not I intend to stop and I can safely say that I have absolutely no drive to stop what I'm doing for the foreseeable future. I believe I've made it fairly obvious that I do whatever I need to to keep my hobby a secret from the rest of Equestria, I've even gone as far as to kill a filly in the past, because I simply suspected that she saw me kidnap one of my victims. I most certainly don't care who my victim is, it always ends the same anyways. With their bodies being fought over by the wolf pack which I've been 'nurturing" for the past decade. They generally hunt around the area behind my backyard.

The Everfree forest.

I was told by the land lord about them when I first moved here from Manehatten a few years back. I was a little skeptical at first, after all the Everfree was notoriously dangerous, it also didn't help that there was a active wolf pact around, who have harmed ponies in the past. Even the town environmentalist, Fluttershy can't communicate with them. Something even more peculiar is the fact that they don't even kill their victims first, they are still alive while the wolves tear out their entrails. It was then that I realized that these wolves are simply the "me's" of their world. They like drawing out the deaths of their prey, that's probably why they haven't killed me yet. It is my theory that these wolves recognize the mutual benefits which could be created between us. I bring them bodies, they keep me alive and clean up my mess. When I kill I do like to have my fun, no I don't rape the mares, no I don't "taste test" them. I merely disembowel them and listen to their pleas for mercy. Most scream, some simply cry and very rarely there are those who do neither, those are the most boring, its like watching a music video without music... fairly pointless isn't it?

They frustrate me.

Being a psychopath isn't easy you know, I have so much to worry about. What would happen if I have to kill a family member? What would happen if one of my victims escapes me? What would happen if I finally find myself unable to kill a pony. The final one is my biggest worry, I'm not even sure if it would ever happen, could a pony ever get close enough to me to the point where I could not bring myself to kill them? Preposterous, something like that could never happen, I can kill anyone in this damn town without feeling remorse, I can butcher anyone in the whole of Equestria without even a second thought.

But then why am I still worried?

Well I most certainly shouldn't be, after all I'm busy stalking my next victim, I can't allow myself to lose focus on the task at hand. My target is a mare by the name of Sunshine Bloom. Her mane is dark red and tied in beautiful knots which match perfectly with her sunny, yellow coat. Her cutie mark is a large quill with several ink blots surrounding it. I've been following her for the past week or so, carefully hiding myself in plain sight, I suppose being so average does have it's benefits when you're secretly a serial killer. She's just left a bakery by the names of Sugarcube Corner, they sell all manner of confectioneries and sweet foodstuffs. Unluckily for her, it's quite late now, so the large crowd of ponies who were roaming around here earlier are long gone. She turns a corner and makes her way down a particularly quiet neighborhood, it's residents long off to sleep. I follow her down the pathway. She turns to look at me, she smiles briefly and continues trotting away to her doom. Nopony would suspect a white stallion with black and red hair to be capable of harm, especially if his cutie mark is a smile. Yes my cutie mark is a smile, I earned it when I was younger, when I embarrassed myself in front of my entire school during our school play; The Pony of Oz. I forgot what I was supposed to say and shut down for a full minute before majestically tripping over a prop bush on my pathetic exit, this bush set off a chain reaction which tore down the entire set. I knew I was in for it when I saw the first pony smile, a mare with glasses. She soon burst into laughter, followed by rest of the audience.

Needless to say, that was the last time I ever participated in a play.

Anyways, enough about my cutie mark and more about my target, I ducked behind a dumpster just as she turned around again and I could visibly see her tense up, even though couldn't see anyone behind her. She turned a few more corners, always looking behind herself to make sure no one was following her.

She was very paranoid.

Then the thought struck me that I might not be the only pony following her. Could she have angered a longtime fan or something by writing a crappy ending to a story or something? I'm not sure who a writer could really anger, but she was most definitely worried and no small amount scared of something and I highly doubt that it's me. The only time I've seen her before I started stalking her was when she walked into my store, the Cackle N' Laugh. I am the owner and lone employee of the store, I sell stupid tricks and jokes like fake ghosts and those shock buzzer things. Yeah it isn't the most impressive selection of tricks but it certainly does match my cutie mark. She came in guided by that crazy pink pony from Sugarcube Corner, whats her name again? Pink Eye was it? Well anyways, they came in to get supplies for a party that they were throwing for a griffon or something. Could she have angered the griffon somehow, that would make sense I suppose, after all they are notoriously short tempered. That was months ago though, why would the griffon still be in town? Surely it couldn't be just to hunt down Sunshine. Although I have traveled to other towns to kill as well, like that time I followed those two brothers... what were their names again? Flim and Flam I believe, with their cider making machine. My first kill which involved two victims, I could hear the wolves howling in delight that night. Still though, I don't think that a griffon would go through all the effort just hunt down a single pony. Talking about a single pony, where the hell did she go? While, lost in my thoughts I wasn't paying attention to the task at hand. Sometimes I can be such a idiot, how could I let her escape? I need to find her, what if she saw me following her!

I quickened my pace, turned a corner and was about to cross the street when I heard a sound coming from a nearby alleyway. I followed the sound like a bloodhound, doing my best to remain as silent as possible. I readied my paralysis spell, I'm actually quite proficient at magic, perhaps not to the level of the famous Twilight Sparkle but most certainly much more than what my facade shows the public. I heard the sound of struggling and I saw the lid of a trash can land in front of me. They must be right around this corner! I leaped out from the corner and saw two earth ponies holding down Sunshine whilst a third one prepared to mount her. Rapists, I despise them, she probably had a run in with them on her way home one day and barely escaped. Which would certainly explain why she was so paranoid. I paralyzed the pony who was about to mount her, then pulled out my incredibly sharp knife which was generally used to cut vegetables, out of my saddlebag, using telekinesis I flung the blade into the throat of one of the ponies holding her down. The last remaining earth pony made to charge for me but Sunshine tripped him as he began to run towards me. Lightning quick, I jumped on him, pulling the knife out of his dying comrade as I went. I slit his throat and smiled ear to ear as the life left his bright green eyes. The paralyzed pony was next, my horn glowed as I removed the paralysis spell, immediately he grunted and crawled away into a corner while pleading for his life, to my side I could see Sunshine sobbing, tears flowing like waterfalls down a cliff-side. Something wasn't right, I was feeling something, not the glorious sensation of killing somepony but something else.

I think I actually felt compassion for her sorrow, I think, for the first time since I was born I cared about somepony else. I loomed over him, grinning like the monster that I am.

"P-p-please h-have m-mercy!" he begged

"I have no mercy, especially not for filth like you."  I replied coldly, the smile still spread across my face

I then proceeded to slit his throat and leave him to his fate. Sunshine was still crying in the corner, I walked over to her, knife still floating next to me. I should have ended her right there. I should have killed her. But my greatest fear had come true.

I couldn't do it.

Now there were a bunch of dead ponies in a alleyway and even worse a live pony trembling in fear. What the hell am I going to do now! I dropped the knife and very awkwardly embraced her in a hug which she returned. She cried into my mane, holding me extremely tightly in a grip which would rival even the mightiest bears of the Everfree Forest. Earth ponies are naturally stronger than most, but this was just insane, no wonders it took two of them to hold her down.

After what felt like forever she finally lessened her grip and looked into my eyes, and still trembling in fear

"Thank you." she said and continued soaking my mane with her tears.

After a minute or so, I removed myself from her grip

"Where do you live? I'll walk you home." I asked warmly

"What about them?" she asked, beckoning towards the twitching bodies behind me.

   "Don't worry about them, I'll take care of it later. I have to get you home now, I'll come talk to you about it in the morning, you cannot under any circumstances tell anypony about this." I said bluntly.

She nodded and continued weeping for a few moments longer before we set off.

I walked her home in complete silence, neither of us said a thing, excepting the occasional sob from Sunshine. About twenty minutes later we arrived at her home.

"I'll be back in the morning, try to get some sleep. If I oversleep, ask your friend from Sugarcube Corner about where I live.My name is Grayn Snowhoof. She knows where everyone stays so I don't think that you'll run into any issues." I said as sincerely as a serial killer could.

She merely nodded and hugged me again. I departed and made my way back towards the crime scene. I had only intended on bringing one pony back today, I reached into my saddle bag and pulled out several plastic garbage bag. Luckily I always bring spares. I pulled the bodies into three separate bags. These earth ponies were quite large, there were several times in which I was worried that they would rip the bags, luckily for me they didn't. Using telekinesis I carried them home, staying away from the streets, some homeless ponies may still be wandering around even at this hour. I arrived home about two hours later, my horn exhausted from all the heavy lifting, I fell onto my bed and before I knew it, I was fast asleep. I awoke to the sound of knocking. Shit, what time was it? I looked at my clock which read twenty past eleven. Oh no, I had overslept, the bodies were still in the living room, what am I going to do! I raced down the stairs half asleep and lifted the bodies.

Thud, thud thud. The knocking continued and getting noticeably louder.

I raced to the backdoor and out into the backyard, bodies still floating behind me. I threw them into the treeline with all the magical strength I could muster. Shit, I could still see them! I could still hear the knocking on the front door, it had  turned into a much louder banging now. I jumped my back fence and paced over to the bodies, I moved them behind a bush, I would have to deal with them later. Whoever was at the door would not be waiting much longer. I ran back to the house and yet again raced through the backdoor.

Out of breath I opened the door. I was met by a hoof smashing into my jaw, I fell backwards and prepared to defend myself when I heard a mare's voice scream

"Dear Celestia, I'm so sorry, I was still knocking!"

I was still very groggy but even through the loud buzz in my ears i could still recognize the voice. Confirmed by the blur of a bright yellow pony rushing to my aid. Sunshine helped me back up and continued apologizing as the buzz in my ears began to fade away.

"I have a doorbell you know." I said still in a fair amount of pain

"I'm really really sorry!" she repeated for the hundredth time.

I should have killed her.

After a few more moments of recovery we made our ways back to the living room, where the bodies had been no less than ten minutes ago. I sat on my "special chair" whilst she sat on the couch.

"What did you do with the bodies?" fear rising in her voice.

"I buried them." I lied.

Her eyes began to water and before long the waterfalls began to flow again. She sobbed and raised her hooves to her face.

"I-I-I don't know what would have happened if y-y-you hadn't come along." she cried and for the second time in my entire life I

actually cared about her feelings.

However being my awkward self, I had no idea what to say to her.

Before I could say anything else she lowered her hooves and looked at me

"Why were you there anyways?" she asked, sniffling

"Well, I was originally there because I wanted to get payment for a rented buzzer from someone who lives in that neighborhood, I      guess I kinda lost track of time" I said blankly

My lie crept it's way onto my face, thank Celestia that her vision was blurred by with tears because I am certain that if they weren't she would have caught me right there.

She arose from her seat and hugged me.

Again.

  "Thank Celestia, I am so lucky." She cried again.

It was there and then that I realized that it was only a matter of time before she began to question why exactly I had a extremely sharp knife in my saddle bag and how I "buried" the bodies. For now however she was content with praising the goddess for her fortune and continued hugging me.

"So about your name... It's Grain Snowhoof right?." She said, looking at me with expectation.

"Yeah thats right, anything wrong?." I asked

She looked up with a smirk on her face,

  "Grain? As in wheat?" she joked as her eyes began to dry up

  "No, not like wheat, it's spelled with a "y" like gray." I said with slight irritation.

She merely chuckled.

  "I'll just call you Snowhoof."the smirk on her face grew into a full blown smile.

  "Yeah, I'd prefer that." I said with my own smirk spreading across my face.

What was happening to me? I never used to smile, the fact that she is even still alive is enough proof that something has changed in me, for the first time in years I actually feel happy again. Everything is actually perfect for the first time in my life.

As if on cue, three rasps bang on the door. I get to my feet and open up the door. I'm greeted by the smell of muffins and a crazy looking pink pony.

  "Hiya, is Sunshine there?" she inquired

  "Yeah, she is uhh would you like to come in Miss..."

  "Pinkie Pie, and I'd love to."  she finished my sentence and trotted in.

   "This just got problematic." I mumbled to myself as I shut the door.

I

Hush Please

Chapter 2: Hush Please

I cannot express how much I despise sugary foods.

The whole concept of devouring masses of candy and rotting your teeth to the core never really caught on with me. Which is quite ironic if you think about it, considering that my cutie mark is a smiley face. I usually bunked Nightmare Night when I was small, even then I preferred to be on my own, I didn't really have any friends to go out with anyways. The one time I did actually go out on Nightmare Night I ended up running home because I was too frightened of the decorations which were on practically every lawn in my neighborhood.

Excepting my own of course.

Even now I don't decorate my lawn during Nightmare Night, I don't even lay out treats or anything of the sort. Yep, that's me, the neighborhood party-pooper. I don't really see much point in Nightmare Night anymore, especially considering that Nightmare Moon has returned to her goddess status, like what are we actually even celebrating? Well whatever, I do appreciate Nightmare Night for one reason nowadays. With all the young ones scampering around outside, it provides the perfect distraction while I sneak into their homes and kill their loving parents.

Well make them "disappear" is much more accurate.

Considering Nightmare Night is about a week from now, I believe its about the time for me to start checking the locks and routines of my neighbors for when I pay them a "visit". I do however have a slight problem which I have to deal with before I begin my Nightmare Night ritual.

Her name is Pinkie Pie.

She has been in my house for the past few hours chatting with Sunshine. She had originally come over to check if Sunshine had managed to find my home, I think she lost track of time about a hour and a half ago. Luckily for me, Sunshine has managed to keep quiet about last night's events thus far, even resorting to lying about her whereabouts yesterday.

"Soooooooo, what are ya gonna do on Nightmare Night?" asked the fluffy pink pony.

"Well I don't know yet, obviously I'm a little too old to go around asking for treats," Sunshine, turned to face me "what about you Snowhoof, do you usually do anything for Nightmare Night?" asked the yellow mare.

I most certainly do, I thought to myself.

"No, I'm not really big on celebrating holidays. I normally just watch scary movies and stuff like that." I lied.

Pinkie looked as if somebody had smacked her across the face with a rubber chicken.

"What do you mean, no?" she arose and began moving towards me "You can't simply not do anything on Nightmare Night. It's the most fun night of the entire year!" she growled, anger becoming clearly evident in her voice.

For the first time since I was born, I was actually scared of another pony.

"Well it's just that-"

"NO! The three of us WILL do something the Nightmare Night! I don't even care what it is!" she shouted cutting me off mid sentence.

"Okay..." I replied meekly.

There was absolutely no arguing with this mare. Sunshine began looking around awkwardly, probably trying to think of an excuse out of this.

"Pinkie promise me." the angry mare said.

"Pinkie Promise?" I replied, unsure of what exactly I was getting myself in to.

"Recite after me, I Pinkie Promise, I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye that I will go have fun with Pinkie and Sunshine on Nightmare Night." said Pinkie proudly.

"Uhh, I don't know about-"

"DO IT!" she screamed, cutting me off yet again.

"Okay, okay, I Pinkie Promise, I Cross My Heart, Hope to Fly, Stick a Cupcake in my Eye that I will go have fun with Pinkie and Sunshine on Nightmare Night." I recited hesitantly.

"Good, well I've gotta go. Cmon Sunshine, I'll get you some cupcakes back at the bakery. See ya Snowhoof, don't forget you Pinkie Promised me!" said Pinkie as she half dragged Sunshine out of my door.

"Bye." was all that Sunshine managed before she disappeared out my door courtesy of Pinkie Pie.

I was left in complete silence, I made my way over to the door and sighed, shutting it with magic. I returned to the living room and sat back down on my seat. The silence was very comforting. It always is. It's like entering my own universe where the only voice that matters is my own. I usually like to think about who my next victim is in my silent time. I still don't know what to do about Pinkie Pie, I'm still not entirely sure what a Pinkie Promise actually even is. What exactly are we going to be doing anyways? From what I can tell, I'll just have to show up and Sugarcube Corner and let the crazy one guide me onward. The silence really helps me think, I've been listening to Pinkie Pie ramble on for about four hours now, I think I deserve a short nap at the very least. Yes, a nap would be perfect for me, a short time in which I can just disconnect from the world and enter pure relaxation. I curled up in my seat and prepared to nod off to sleep.

Thud thud thud

The silence has been broken, my one time of bliss in the day has been cut short. With a groan I pull myself off the chair and wandered to the door. Standing to the side to avoid potential hoof-to-face contact, I opened the door. I was greeted by a pony with a saddlebag. His mane was combed back with gel, complete with glasses and a runny nose. Before I could even open my mouth to tell him to leave, he had already begun digging in his saddle bag.

"Hello sir! My name is Gecko! I work with GelCo incorporated. Would you like to hear about our latest promotion?" said the pony with a smile possibly faker than my own.

I don't need this shit right now I thought to myself.

"No." I said bluntly, closing the door on Gecko.

Before I could completely shut the door, Gecko places his hoof between the door and the door frame.

"Sir, we are having a huge sale, fifty percent off all of our products!" he said, the smile never leaving his face.

He better leave, before I lose my temper.

"Listen kid, I don't want what your'e selling so if you could please leave that would be-" I

"Sir, if you buy a jar of premium GelCo gel, you get one jar free!" he interrupted.

A smile spread it's way across my face. He had his chance to leave. It's gone now. Before the nerdy pony could say another sentence, I struck him across the muzzle with my hoof, sending him sprawling onto the pathway which leads into my house. As he lay groaning on the ground, I trotted over to him and began pulling him into my home. Luckily for me, most people in my part of the neighborhood had gone out to get supplies for Nightmare Night, so its highly unlikely that anyone would have seen me kidnap him. I cast a paralysis spell on him, before grabbing one of my plastic bags out of my still open saddlebag. I closed the door and made my way to the backdoor. I opened the door, Gecko still floating behind me. I began dragging him to my forest. I usually take my victims about a three kilometers deep, to a small cave which I discovered a few years back. Along the way, I grabbed the mangled corpses of the three rapists who were still hidden behind the bush where I had placed them earlier. Carrying four bodies, three of which were large earth ponies takes a lot of effort. After about half a hour later I found myself at the cave entrance, my horn aching. I dropped the rapists and carried the still paralyzed salespony towards the entrance to the cave.

The wolves' den.

Sure it was dangerous at first, however the wolves' have kept to their side of the bargain thus far and I can only hope that it stays that way. I unwrapped the "presents" before pulling him to the table length boulder where I had ended the lives of as many as forty ponies in the past. Tying him to the the boulder with the thick leather straps that I've been using for  about a year now. I made sure to fasten and tighten him to the greatest extent possible. I reached under a nearby log and retrieved my favorite knife. I revoked my paralysis spell and immediately he began thrashing around, attempting to escape the binds.

"You should have just left." I said with my trademark smile.

"Buck you! Let me out of here right now!" he shouted, fear evident in his high pitched voice.

Chuckling, I moved towards him and tested the blade on his flank, drawing blood. The blade was still as sharp as always. My captive whimpered in pain.

"Just in case you had any doubts, you are going to die today." I whispered, completely ignoring his earlier demands.

He responded by thrashing even more, making the blood running down his flank fall on the forest floor. After a minute or so, he calmed down and stopped thrashing completely.

"Please let me go." he said meekly, turning his head to face me, without the magical prowess of a horn he was powerless to stop me, times like this brought to fruits the disadvantages of being a earth pony.

I merely moved towards him, smile growing as I crept closer.

"No." I replied dully.

I raised the knife and brought it down swiftly into the pony's foreleg, releasing a loud womanish scream which was answered by the howl of a wolf somewhere else in the forest.

"Y-you don't have to do this." he cried, blood dripping down the sides of the boulder.

I looked at him, a memory flooding my mind. I was only a young colt when I had witnessed death first hand for the first time and surprisingly it wasn't at my hands. It was a week before school started and I was making my way towards the local bakery. When I heard the sound of a mare crying in a nearby alley. I turned into it, eager to be a hero and save a mare in distress. I was about to turn a corner when I saw a rough looking pegasus walk towards me, panicking I ducked into a cardboard box as he turned to look at me. By the grace of Celestia, he hadn't seen me and continued on his way down towards the sound of the crying mare. Slipping out of the box I poked my head around the corner and saw the mare in distress. She was crying, blood running down her face. Her hooves were chipped and she was hiding away in the corner. The pegasus walked towards her.

"I see you guys had all the fun without me" he said, addressing the seven or so ponies surrounding the miserable mare.

The group burst into laughter, before being silenced by a large orange earth pony.

"You don't get in on the fun yet," he said as he walked over to the pegasus, a large knife in his mouth "you first have to prove to us that you aren't squeamish." he finished, handing the pegasus his wicked blade.

"Ha, just gimme a moment to gut the bitch." said the pegasus, taking the knife out of giant's mouth.

He made his way to the mare.

"Y-y-you don't have to this.." said the trembling mare.

The pegasus hesitated for a moment before leaning close to her.

"I'm sorry, I don't have any choice." he said, slitting her throat.

The crowd cheered as the mare fell limp and hit the ground with a loud thud.

I was limp with fear. Too scared to do anything to stop them, after a few moments of staring at the horrendous scene, I pulled out and ran home, completely forgetting about the bakery. A single thought kept repeating itself in my mind as I ran, tears flowing down the side of my face..

You do have a choice. You do have a choice. You do have a choice.

Reality flushed back and the salespony was still strapped to the boulder. The anger within me released itself.

"YOU DO HAVE A CHOICE!" I shouted as loudly as possible, before thrusting the knife into Gecko's heart.

He whimpered one more time before going limp.Then there was nothing. The silence had returned.

After releasing his straps, I made my way home, still furious at the salespony. It was his choice to continue pestering me. He's dead and its all his fault! He should have just left. He had a choice... But so did I, it was my choice to kill him, I could have just as easily released him. I made my choice and I simply have to push forward and stand by it. All the regret which I had never felt had finally found me.

"I'm a monster, a bucking monster!" I shouted to myself, snapping a nearby branch with magic.

Then, as quickly as the regret had come, it left. The anger flushed out of me. A new thought was flowing through my mind, a choice which I will never regret. A choice I will try my hardest to stand by.

Not even a day ago I saved some pony. Not even a day ago I made a crucial choice. I spared her.

As the regret and hatred left my body, my normal state of mind came flowing back in. As I approached my home, it was already getting dark. I entered my backdoor and with a sigh, shut the door. A orchestra of howls could be heard in the distance as I entered my living room. The wolves have found the bodies it seems. I turned on the lights and to my surprise saw that the entire house had been cleaned up. The dishes were washed, chairs all tucked in, even the floors had been washed. Someone had been inside my house. I prepared my paralysis spell and began checking all the rooms, all of which had been cleaned up as well. I slowly ascended the stairs, spell still at the ready. I checked the guest room and then made my way to the master room, the door was closed. I counted to three and pushed the door open. To my surprise, Sunshine was fast asleep on the bed. Why was she here? I lowered the paralysis spell and left the room as quietly as possible. I still had blood all over me, I need to get to a shower and get cleaned up before I even consider waking her up.

I made my way downstairs and entered the guest shower, locking the door behind me. The hot water quickly washed away all the blood and cleared off the dirt from the trek to and from the cave. A few minutes into the shower I heard a loud scream come from upstairs. I immediately hopped out of the shower and grabbed a towel , wrapping it around myself in an attempt to stop water dripping on the newly washed floors. I raced towards the master room and opened the door. Sunshine was sobbing and looked up in surprise when I entered the room.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I came looking for you but you weren't here. I noticed that you weren't home and the house was a mess so I decided to clean it for you." she said, still crying.

"Uhh yeah, thanks I guess. Why were you looking for me?" I asked as awkward as ever, water still dripping besides me.

"I wanted to ask you where you wanted to go on Nightmare Night and the door was unlocked," she said, her tears beginning to dry up. "I came upstairs and after finishing up with the cleaning, I fell asleep on the bed from exhaustion. I had a nightmare, that you didn't help me and they-" she said, cutting herself off with a sob.

"Hey listen it was just a dream okay?" I said, making my way towards her."Nothing is going to happen to you. I'm going to make sure of that." I said, trying to be as supportive as possible.

"I'm so sorry, I soaked your bed with my tears! I-I'll change the sheets and clean it again and-"

'No, don't worry about that, it's really quite okay. It will dry up in about a hour anyways. Out of curiosity, why exactly did you clean up the house anyways?" I asked.

"I owe you my life, the least I could do is clean your house." she said, cheering up slightly.

"You most certainly don't owe me anything at all. Now as for Nightmare Night I have no idea what Pinkie has in store for us. So why don't we head over to Sugarcube Corner and ask her?" I said, taking off the towel and giving myself a quick shake.

Sunshine nodded and smiled. We descended down the stairs and departed for Sugar Cube corner, the moon rising behind us.

A howl from far behind us declared that night had officially fallen.